


Dreamcatcher

by dsa_archivist



Category: due South
Genre: Drama, Episode Related, M/M, Romance, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-03-26
Updated: 1999-03-26
Packaged: 2018-11-10 05:27:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsa_archivist/pseuds/dsa_archivist
Summary: It's RayV.'s Birthday, and Fraser thinks about chances lost.





	Dreamcatcher

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Speranza, the archivist: this story was once archived at [Due South Archive](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Due_South_Archive). To preserve the archive, I began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in June 2017. I tried to reach out to all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Due South Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/duesoutharchive).

Dreamcatcher

## Dreamcatcher

by Adalisa

Author's webpage: http://members.tripod.com/luxshine/

Author's notes: I saw Eclipse a thousand times. It's the only S3 eps. I like... And this is what I end up with.

* * *

Dreamcatcher  
By: Adalisa Zrate 

Benton Fraser removed the eagle feather from the wooden circular frame and put it on his lap. He had been working on that simple gift ever since before going to Canada, as he hoped to surprise his friend, Detective Ray Vecchio, in his birthday. It had been two days since he returned from his two week vacation; two days since he had seen a stranger's face instead of those Italian-American features he knew so well. 

Fraser had set aside all thoughts of his friend, of the two years that had gone since he had meet him for the first time in a cell in the 27th Precinct. If he hadn't, the pain in his heart would have surely killed him. 

He had succeeded, spending as little time as was possible with his 'new' friend, burying himself in work so he wouldn't have any time to think. But then, the package arrived. The eagle feather that he had waited for months, just to make the perfect gift for Ray... for his Ray, the true Ray. It would have been so perfect... First, the party that his friend would have organized in the Precinct, as he always had; then, dinner with the Vecchio family; and later, in his apartment, Ben would ask him to stay for a while, and he wouldn't be denied, no matter how tired Ray was. And there, alone, with no witnesses to interrupt or embarrass him, Fraser would have given Ray his gift, and confessed his love. There had never been any doubt in his heart that Ray would reciprocate, even when his mind had some fears. After all, in two years, they had been through much, and their friendship always seemed stronger, so Fraser was sure that it could stand his confession. But his careful plan had been destroyed, unknowingly, by his beloved. 

Fighting back the tears, Fraser put the feather in its final place, and lifted the dreamcatcher to admire his work. It hadn't been easy, remembering the lessons Erick gave him so long ago, but the result was beautiful. If only Ray could see it. 

As he thought of his far away friend, he pulled out his bedroll and sighed. He had not only lost his best friend, he no longer had anything to remember him by in the fire that had destroyed his apartment. A reading lamp that Ray had accompanied him to buy, a weird looking blue stuffed bear that Ray had brought him while he was recovering in the hospital (Although Ray had always insisted that it came from Francesca), the dress that he had worn while in St. Fortunata, where he and Ray had danced together, a spare suit that Ray had left there, just in case he needed it. And now, he didn't anything. Just his memories and a painful feeling of never knowing what Ray would have said, how his lips would have tasted, what might have been. 

And that was the worst part, the uncertainty, the things he didn't know. Where was Ray? Was he really safe? Did he need help? Those where the thoughts that plagued him day and night, only leaving him alone when he worked himself to exhaustion, and that, just one day before Ray's birthday, returned with their strength doubled. Even though his heart ached. Ben wouldn't himself to cry. And so, with tears hidden behind his eyelids, Benton Fraser fell asleep, thinking of his absent love. 

  * * * 



He was back in Canada, although he didn't remember how or when he had got there. Turning around, trying to locate himself, he saw the plane crash... And all came back to him. Ray, the crash... but also, he knew that something wasn't right, since he remembered things that were wrong with him: being blind, unable to walk... Ray carrying him until they reached the river. 

Still, he was there, and there was no sign of Diefenbaker or Ray around. Worried, he began walking, trying to remember the path they had taken during the original crash. 

A piercing sound called his attention and, looking up, he saw a beautiful bald eagle, soaring right above him. He had no idea of where the eagle had come from, but he felt compelled to follow it. As he walked, the landscape swirled and changed before him, and he was no longer in the forest, but in a frozen mountain... the one where his father's body had been found. He could feel the tears back in his eyes, as the knowledge of not having been there to save his father , the feeling of being unworthy, returned to his mind. 

"I was doing my duty, same as you. No one could have saved me." His father was standing close to him, looking at the sky where the eagle kept flying in circles, as if waiting. "But now, you have a new duty, son. Your yank friend depends on you." 

"Dad?... What..." He tried to walk towards his father, but at the first step the ground failed him and he fell through an abandoned mine drill. The abandoned mine drill where he met Dief years ago. Looking up, he could see the eagle above him, still waiting. 

A soft whine called his attention, and he saw Dief, standing at the end of a tunnel, in a patch of light. He hesitated, not willing to lose sight of the eagle. The bird seemed to understand his conflict, since it flew away, in the same direction where Dief was. Now, Fraser had no choice but follow his lupine friend. 

As he got nearer to Dief, the wolf began walking away, just turning to make sure that he was still behind. The path was very dark, and the only thing he could see was a white blur, where he hoped Dief would be. 

A white flash of light marked the end of the tunnel, appearing suddenly and blinding him for a moment. When he could see again, he wasn't in Whitehorse, or in the mountains. He was in the forest near his father's cabin. He turned around but there was no sign of Dief again. Not even a single trace that the wolf had been with him. But in the sky, the eagle was still flying, and this time, he knew where it was headed. 

When he reached the cabin, he was very surprised to find it whole... and bigger than it had been. At least twice it's real size. The eagle just passed over his head and descended on the cabin's roof. Knowing that what he was searching, whatever it was, would be inside, he rushed to the door, and found it unlocked. He opened it, and entered the room, his body shaking with anticipation. 

"You should get a lock, you know? Just because you're in the armpit of the North Pole doesn't mean that there aren't any thieves." 

"Ray??" he couldn't believe his eyes. There, sitting in a couch in the middle of what seemed to be a living room, dressed with a colorful snowsuit, was his friend, Ray Vecchio, greeting him with a smile. At his feet, Diefenbaker slept peacefully. He didn't dare do anything but close the door and stare at his loved friend with awe "What are you doing here?" 

"I promised you that we would rebuild this thing together, didn't I? And I even paid for the bathroom, in case you forgot. " Ray rose from the couch, to stand at his side, encouraging him to look around. The cabin looked very different, yet familiar. He could remember his old talks with Ray, back when he had been at the hospital, wounded with Ray's bullet, when he discovered that he loved the man beside him, the friend who had never stopped believing in him. "I'm going to fulfill my promise, Benny " Ray whispered in his ear "I'm going to come back... but you have to help me. You have to take care of my home in the meantime. Understand? I trust you with my life, Benny. You're my best friend." And then, Ray closed the distance between them, and kissed him lightly on his lips, making him close his eyes. 

  * * * 



Fraser woke in the floor of his office, disoriented. He felt better than he had in weeks, ever since his return from Canada. As he remembered the details of his dream, he smiled. His brief meeting with Ray had only been a dream, but that didn't mean it couldn't happen in the future, as long as Ray didn't blow his cover and return safely. 

Fraser gave more thought to his dream, as he dressed up. He had a duty to Ray, to protect his family, his identity, and his life while Ray was away, and he hadn't done that. The Riv had burnt, Ray's house had been destroyed too... And now, 'Ray Vecchio' was on the streets without his Mountie friend. People would suspect he only way to do his duty, to help his friend, was to return to the old routine, with the new 'Ray'. He had to be his friend, for Ray's sake. 

He pulled out the wallet Ray had given him from his blue jacket. Inside, hidden from everybody, was the photograph Ray had managed to send him. He took it out, folded it carefully, and hid it inside his Stetson. That way, Ray would always be with him. And he would return, as he had promised. 

Smiling, Fraser left the Consulate, the dreamcatcher on his pocket. 


End file.
